The FlyAway Scarecrow and The Tin Man's Heart
by Goldbryn Callow Lyte
Summary: A retelling of how The Scarecrow met the Tin Man...based on the Tin Man series and told like a children's story. Just something cute. Fanart for it on my deviantart account!


"The FlyAway Scarecrow and The Tin Man's Heart"

Picture at my Deviantart site!

Once upon a time, there was a scarecrow of a man that had no home. He wandered the lands with no real purpose and no idea where he was. Sadly, long ago, a witch stole half his brain and locked it away so that he could never get it back.  
Without the missing half, he always seemed to get lost.  
But that wasn't the only reason.  
No matter where he went or however long he traveled, there always came a time he most feared. Without warning and without preamble, a flock of crows that always seemed to be able to find him, would swoop down and pick him up; pulling all the while at his already frayed and tattered clothing. When the crows became tired of carrying their load, they would drop him back to land and fly away.  
He never landed in the same place twice, and he almost never knew where he was.  
So with half his brain he would trudge off in the hopes of finding something familiar until the crows found him again.  
But he rarely did.  
But one day he was dropped on a beautiful grassy hill. While regaining his composure he noticed a figure standing still not so far away. Happy he had landed somewhere with another person, he ran to them, hoping they could help him.  
What he found was both a delight and shock.  
A man was tethered to the ground by two lengths of stiff rope knotted onto large, and probably long, spikes that were stuck deep within the earth. His boots were much too large and were made of some kind of metal; they looked very heavy.  
When he approached the man, the man said nothing, only looked at him.  
How long had he been there?  
Who put him there?  
Had he forgotten how to speak?  
Questions remained unanswered as the bound man said nothing in response to the scarecrow,  
But he would not give up. No! He stood there talking...and talking...soon he was sitting, and still talking; the bound man had joined him on the ground, still not speaking.  
The scarecrow stayed there for days, not always talking, but keeping the other man company.  
He did look so very lonely.  
Finally, on the 4th day of his 'stay', the man spoke. His voice was rough and unused and the scarecrow wondered sadly again how long he had actually been stuck there.  
The scarecrow learned that people who passed called him "The Tine Man" on account of his trappings. Apparently a witch (and this seemed so familiar to the scarecrow, though he couldn't fathom why) had been sorely put off by the mans coldness, and punished him by encasing his legs in boots that were too heavy to walk in, and tying him down so no one could move him.  
The scarecrow found he wanted more than ever to stay and keep this tin man company.  
So he did.  
For days they talked. They talked of nothing and everything. The scarecrow told the tin man what he could remember of his life (which wasn't much) and what he had seen on his wanderings through the land. The tin man in turn told him of where he had once lived, and the family he once had. He had been in that spot for so long, they were all gone now...lost to the tides of time.  
The scarecrow found he was happier than he could ever have remembered being and when they talked and the tin man smiled, he was sure the trapped man was happy too.  
But there came that fearful day, and it came much too soon. The cawing grew louder as the crows neared and the scarecrow knew that he might never see the tin man again.  
But when he raced to say goodbye, the tin man silenced him. From beneath his shirt he drew out a beautiful chain, on which a glass red heart hung. He handed the necklace quickly to the scarecrow and asked him, begged him, to find his way back again.  
He promised.  
The crows came, and he watched as the tin man became an indescribable speck on the green landscape.  
He would find his way back.  
He landed somewhere cold this time and was terrified of how long it would take to make his way back again. Pulling out the necklace, he stared intently at it, the glass warming in his touch. A smile suddenly broke across his face.  
He knew where to go.  
For however long the journey was (he did not know) the scarecrow made his way purposly across the land until he found his way onto a grassy hilltop where a man stood tethered.  
Bother were elated, and the days passed by too quickly.  
And the birds came again.  
But this time, he refused to leave without a fight, and he hung onto the tin man's arms, fighting the powerful wings of the manic crows.  
But to no avail. Even while the man was planted so firmly on the ground, his grip slipped.  
He would find his way back again, and this time, he would stay.  
And so it went on, for so many years that the historic accounts which followed their tale have all but vanished. But what they say is that he kept finding his way back. Even with only half his brain, he was able to find his way back to the tin man. He would fight each time to stay, each time holding tighter to the tin man, holding longer. Each time he held on, the birds would beat their wings faster and harder, their powerful wings soon lifting both men into the air.  
Soon the ropes started to splinter.  
Soon the crows became too strong.  
Soon...the ropes snapped...and scarecrow and tin man were carried away together--held close in each others arms, the scarecrow guarding the tin mans heart in case they were ever separated again.  
But they never were...


End file.
